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May 13, 2012

I wanted to write this one so much but I had no time, so it's finally here. Most of you have probably seen fans of Hartlepool supporting their club at Charlton this month, but for those who have not - stay a while and read!

The army of 171 Hartlepool supporters painted their faces blue and donned blue jumpers and white overalls, beards and hats to support their club on the final match of the season against Charlton in League One. The smurf invasion was quickly the talk of Twitter after photo of Hartlepool supporters descending an escalator at London’s Kings Cross Underground station was posted and was viewed more than 13,000 times in 24 hours. Some fans were also dressed up as super heroes. Organiser John 'Papa Smurf' Pearson said: 'It’s good craic and helps the day along" and the Hartlepool manager Neale Cooper stated: 'The fans were fantastic. I got a message on my phone saying, "The Smurfs are invading Charlton", and that was from someone in Scotland. Then I saw the pictures. The support on the day was brilliant.' At half-time, mid-table Hartlepool were leading 1-0 against League One champions Charlton but by the final whistle they were 3-2 down. Last time the Hartlepool supporters were dressed up as Oompa Loompas (Video on the bottom).

Hartlepool itself is beginning to be one of the most creative clubs in the League One, and its supporters nickname is kinda funny too. The Monkey Hangers. According to local folklore, the term originates from an incident in which a monkey was hanged in Hartlepool. During the Napoleonic wars, a French ship was wrecked off the coast, and the only survivor was a monkey wearing a French uniform. After finding the monkey locals decided to hold an impromptu trial, but the monkey was unable to answer their questions and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman may look like, they concluded that the monkey was a French spy. Later, the monkey was hanged from the mast of a boat. Hartlepool United FC's mascot is a monkey called H'Angus the Monkey. An interesting story, isnt it?